NEWS report in a national daily on Wednesday said quoting Finance Minister AMA Muhith that a record level $24 billion foreign aid is spilling up at the moment in the pipeline due to different ministries’ failure to utilize the resources timely. The amount of unused foreign aid stood at $19 billion at the beginning of the current fiscal 2014-15 and the government had planned to use at least 20 percent of the sum or $ 4.0 billion during the current year. But the actual use so far stood at $1.8 billion in the first eight months of the budgetary year. He blamed lengthy procedural matters set by bilateral and multilateral donors to get the fund for use. Muhith was actually candid in making the disclosure but it has also raised question about the quality of the political leadership and the capacity of the administrative machinery and other public institutions; which have a significant role to handle the fund to achieve the targeted socio-economic development. The minister has also blamed frequent change of project directors and the responsibility of many projects on each director for the setback
Actually, given the present politicization of bureaucracy, we see there is no denying of the fact that a messy atmosphere is blocking timely progress everywhere. But the most pertinent question, which one can make, is that why the frequent changes take place in the post of a project director and why one person is vested with the responsibility of so many projects when there is no shortage of manpower in the bureaucracy. Here the very fact is that the government is using transfer and posting as a way of reward and punishment to officials on political consideration creating the mess in project management. This is also retarding the preparation of new projects to pave the way of using more donors’ fund now spilling over in the pipeline. But the spilling over of as much as $24 billion unused fund largely for lack of an effective government, which is all time busy now in volatile politics, is indeed a matter of grave concerns to the nation.
The Finance Minister’s reference to various donors’ conditions is well understood. For example he said WB proposal for an automated pricing formula for electricity and fuel oil to get the budgetary support is delaying loan disbursement in many cases. But in our view political stability is the number one factor in absence of which the government has no time to think in peace to move on to big projects and take steps to use the unused funds. A fragile government is not also capable to reform the economy where it is needed most in conjunction with donors’ demands.
The Finance Minister’s disclosure shows that the opportunity cost to the nation for failing to use the funds in absence of effective political leadership and efficient bureaucracy is too much. We can only hope the situation will improve to bring improvement to the lot of the nation.
